Opioids occasional Vicoden for a former opiate addict??

i have a friend that was addicted to heroin for 6-7 years, then went on methadone and finally came off that and has been clean from opiates for 5 years..heres the thing though, he gets occasional attacks of pain whether its back pain or migraine headaches..he has a few vicoden laying around and he asked me how dangerous it is for him to take a few if the pain gets too bad..i told him 'why risk it?' but he thinks he can get away with it..in all likelihood i dont think taking 2 vicoden would put him on the road to relapse as his life is pretty stable right now..what do you guys think??

I think he should not keep hydrocodone in the house, being a former opiate addict. It's highly dangerous to his sobriety.

Recovering addicts have relapsed after taking a few tramadol for pain, so it's definitely possible to relapse after getting a little taste of the high via Vicodin. Also, I don't think that hydrocodone would do much for a migraine headache. There are certain meds for that, and they aren't opioids. I have heard of some hospitals using IV hydromorphone in some extreme situations, but people suffering from migrains usually take non-opioid meds to treat these headaches.

What kind of back pain does he have? Again, hydrocodone might not be the proper med for his condition. Muscle relaxers may work better if his pain is coming from muscle cramps or spasms, or something like gabapentin if it's nerve pain.

It seems like your friend is trying to justify using the vicodin, so he might already be on the road to relapse. They say that you relapse long before you actually take the substance, and this may be one of those cases. Tell your friend to look into proper treatment for his migraines and back pain, and to tell the doctor about his history of addiction so that they don't toss some opiates at him, which would further justify him using them, since it would be 'doctors orders.'

It completely depends on the person, why they take the Vicodin and if they are using it solely for pain, how mentally stable they are and how much work they've done on their mental addiction, whether they've had problems with pills in the past or solely heroin, etc. It is possible for someone who has a prior opioid addiction and has been off opioids for 5 years to use Vicodin responsibly (I certainly can), but it is certainly not possible for everyone. It's a far better idea for him to get proper treatment for his pain instead of self-medicating. Vicodin is not very helpful for migraine headaches anyway.

The above posters have pretty much summed it up... While it's certainly possible for someone sober to properly take a script for legitimate pain, especially if the drug is something weak like hydrocodone and their DOC was something strong like heroin, the risks also cant be overlooked.. That small tinge of an opiate high delivered from the vic's could be enough to get that itch going again...

You need to sort of gauge him personality wise. As Tommyboy said, a lot of addicts "plan" their relapses, where the idea is turning around in their head for quite a while, along with a plethora of justifications to use again. Does he seem like he is in this stage? Or does he genuinely seem uninterested in the prospect of taking an opiate aside from the pain relief it will bring? His mind set going into it will make all the difference.

I recommend he tries Naproxen for his pain instead.

With no tolerance Vicodin may get him just as high as heroin did when he had a high tolerance, which can certainly lead to relapse. It's just like how most people use heroin to get the same high that they used to get from vicodin, but due to tolerance they needed to move to a more potent opiates to achieve the high. So 2 bags of heroin does to me now what 2 Vicodin did to me when I had no tolerance.